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Date: | Wed, 23 Aug 2000 10:09:23 -0400 |
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I found the following description of Australian aborigine hunting
preferences relevant to the kangaroo discussion:
The great challenge for the Aborigine was to obtain
enough dietary fat. They were close observers of nature
and knew just when certain animals were at their fattest.
For example, kangaroos were fat when the fern leaf wattle
was in flower; possums when the apple tree was in bloom.
Other signs indicated when the carpet snake, kangaroo
rat, mussels, oysters, turtles and eels were fat and at
their best. Except in times of drought or famine, the
Aborigine rejected kangaroos that were too lean they
were not worth carrying back to camp.1 During periods of
abundance animals were slaughtered ruthlessly, and only
the best and fattest parts of the killed game were
eaten. Favorite foods were fat from the intestines of
marsupials and from emus. Highly saturated kidney fat
from the possum was often eaten raw. The dugong, a large
seagoing mammal, was another source of fat available to
natives on the coasts.
Other sources of fat included eggs from both birds and
reptiles and a great variety of insects. Chief among
them was the witchety grub, or moth larva, found in
rotting trunks of trees. These succulent treats often
over six inches long were eaten both raw and cooked.
Fat content of the dried grub is as high as 67%. The
green tree ant was another source of valuable fat, with a
fat-to-protein ration of about 12 to one. Another
important seasonal food in some parts of the country was
the begong moth. The moths were knocked off rock walls
on which they gathered in large numbers, or smoked out of
caves or crevices. They were roasted on the spot or
ground up for future use. Moth abdomens are the size of a
small peanut and are rich in fat.
This is from
http://www.westonaprice.org/australian_aborigines.htm
Todd Moody
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